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White House Releases Sensitive Personal Info From Voters Concerned About Privacy (vox.com)

Huge_UID shares an article from Vox: The White House just responded to concerns it would release voters' sensitive personal information by releasing a bunch of voters' sensitive personal information. Last month, the White House's "election integrity" commission sent out requests to every state asking for all voters' names, party IDs, addresses, and even the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, among other information. The White House then said this information would be made available to the public. A lot of people did not like the idea, fearing that their personal information could be made public. So some sent emails to the White House, demanding that it rescind the request. This week, the White House decided to make those emails from concerned citizens public through the commission's new website... It didn't censor any of the personal information -- such as names, email addresses, actual addresses, and phone numbers -- included in those emails.
Some of the emails also included the commenter's place of employment -- though at least one commenter helpfully informed the White House that their voter info was available at Goatse. But the voting comission is now also facing new lawsuits from the ACLU, Public Citizen, and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, McClatchy reported on Monday, noting that "Trump's voting commission has told states to hold off on sharing the data until after a judge's ruling in a lawsuit."

159 of 330 comments (clear)

  1. Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ..to not give a fuck about your privacy.

    1. Re:Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Actually, has there been one that has given a fuck?

    2. Re:Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      deflect, deflect, deflect

      and don't get me started on her emails!!1!

    3. Re: Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The next one, hopefully

    4. Re:Not the first administration.. by pushing-robot · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Perhaps, but this administration has raised not giving a fuck about America into an art form.

      --
      How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    5. Re:Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Arguably, that would have been Nixon, when the supreme court actually cared about human rights. For example: Roe vs. Wade.

      After the administration (and later apotheosis) of Saint Ronald, things went rapidly downwards.

    6. Re:Not the first administration.. by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 5, Informative

      That is a lie. The left has never made a claim of voter fraud. That particular accusation came from Donald Trump himself prior to the election. He had no proof of this then, and still hasn't.

      The claims the left made were that Russia influenced the elections. The hacking that went on as part of this influence campaign happened prior to the election (the email server). There is some evidence for this influence, as witnessed by the emails actually being released on Wikileaks and Donald Trump Jr's disclosure of his emails which spoke of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump.

    7. Re:Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      At this point, privacy concerns are a non-partisan issue. Things did not get better under Obama, and they would not have gotten better under Hillary. It's possible they are getting worse under Trump than they would be otherwise. However, getting distracted by partisan politics is part of why the citizens are losing the battle.

      I know it's fun to talk about the orange harbinger of doom, but can you really look back on 8 years of Obama without wishing he had done more to defend privacy and protect us against a surveillance state?

    8. Re:Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That isn't what pisses me off...if the left wants to claim that the election was rigged against Shillary? Then you HAVE to investigate, which means looking at the fucking voting records!

      But isn't it funny that the states having the most of a shitfit are the ones that have been accused in the past of having the "living impaired" voting democrat? I sincerely hope the courts demand that ALL states produce their data so we can see once and for all what is going on...I have a feeling there is gonna be some massive cheating alright, but it ain't gonna be the right, its gonna be the DNC ops that Project Veritas caught bragging about busing illegals to vote in multiple districts and entire cemeteries worth of corpses wearing "I'm with her" shirts shambling their rotten asses into polling booths in heavily democrat states.

      First off, her name is Hillary, not Shillary. Adding blatant sexism on top of your lying shit is a sad touch and it is noted.

      Second off, there have been studies on in person voting fraud and it is nearly non existent, but if your that worried about it, stamp everyone that votes with some purple die or something that takes time to wear off. You could even have a freely available ID card in all 50 states, as long as it is free, easy to get, and easy to replace with no BS.

      Third off your feelings mean jack shit. Get back to us when you have some hard numbers from reputable sources, not freaking feelings.

      Additionally project veritas is not a legitimate news source. He basically works to get video to say whatever he wants it to say. He does this through deception and targeting pretty much every person associated with a movement. He does this through entrapment and various other questionably legal means. In short he digs up the worst he can, often by setting up most of the situation himself, then edits it to make it look far worse than it ever was. It is not reporting. It is just one sick fuck. You can't accurately measure the value of the organisation by their ability to keep one sick fuck from somehow secretly editing together some crap that puts them in a bad light because of a small subset of their members.

      Fourth off republicans for the most part and some democrats are responsible for the vast overarching majority of voting fraud and I'll prove it, by first defining voting fraud as deliberate and with forethought manipulating the system to disproportionately reduce access to the polls by votes in the opposing party.

      First off, (for the last time) all these convenient voting roll purges, some of which are highly targeted. They are designed to throw up road blocks to people to vote. Requiring hard to get IDs is another road block that hits people who don't drive, which conveniently enough is the dirt poor more so. Republicans are doing this all over and I consider it one step away from treason, for it attacks the heart and soul of our country and that is a free and fair election. I put the recent attacks on truth itself in the same vein. Their is no honour in winning, if by doing so you destroy what you are supposed to be fighting for.

      Second off you have all the convoluted redistricting where you play with the districts to maximize your number of representatives while minimizing your opponents. Now democrats have been guilty of this too, though to a lesser extent. In my not so humble opinion anyone guilty of it is scum and needs tossed out. It is a key component of disenfranchisement.

      Thirdly republicans just love to comment how it is only fair that small states get a disproportionate say with respect to population. How is that fair? By definition have one vote mean more in one place than another is not equitable. It is the very definition of unfair. Its just another variation of the elites versus the rest of the world that is as old as time immemorial. In short it states that the value of a persons vote is directly, on average, influenced by how much land he or she owns.

      The electoral college als

    9. Re: Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm pretty sure they're claiming the interfered through social engineering, not literally hacking voting booths, although some attention was given to that possibility given Russia's actual cyber espionage on that front.

      Keep defending your boy though. Go team!

    10. Re:Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Republicans never stopped to ask themselves WHY the russians would support trump.

      You can't confront republicans with facts. Their brains completely shut down when you do. If they HAD asked themselves that question, they would have run as far and as fast as they could in the opposite direction from the candidate that putin prefers.

      trump was OBVIOUSLY the weaker candidate, but republicans fell for the trick. They fall for it every time.

    11. Re: Not the first administration.. by easyTree · · Score: 1

      Firstly lol but then...

      In a system of democracy (lol, haha etc) in which expression of the will of the people has been reduced to the ticking of a single box every few years (surely beyond insult to even the zombie voters?), it is truly inspiring that unexplored depths of corruption can be found by those willing to dig deep. A lesson in creativity and perseverance we can all benefit from following.

      What ephemeral barrier prevents further descent? Did God degree that the people have the right to the sham of involvement in the process but no less? Really, what prevents further protection from the will of the people?

    12. Re: Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Be angry at Obama for WHAT? The ONLY ones that were angry at Obama was the GOP who are racists and just want to hate for any and all reason.
      The fact that he kept us from depression, addressed a number of issues, has done nothing but piss off you GOP types that wanted him to fail.
      BUT you have to be a real fuck to defend trump and try to equate him to Obama.

    13. Re: Not the first administration.. by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      I was, but it doesn't matter. I'm still accused of being partisan, every time I attack a bad action by anyone. I have managed to vote in every election since '92, and never for the winner. What else can I do?

    14. Re:Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Objectively, if you look back at the Nixon administration, he seemed well liked. He won two elections in a landslide, and his approval ratings were decent. What ultimately lead to his undoing was his own insecurity.

      The watergate investigators honestly believed Nixon had no involvement or knowledge of the burglary before it happened, which was based on the same recordings that ultimately got him into trouble. Where he got into trouble was when he found out that his own staff ordered it, and then he tried to cover it up.

    15. Re:Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, indeed. Nixon was mostly underrated. His objectification as the archetype "crook" doesn't help with understanding the history. As a career politician he was quite competent and he left many good deeds such as the EPA, severing the Bretton Woods exchange rate system (which had ran out of its historical usefulness), going to China, and nominating decent justices to the supreme court.

      Gosh, if we're now looking back at Richard fucking Nixon and missing him, what does that say about the current shitshow?

    16. Re:Not the first administration.. by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      No it was not the left or the so called liberal media.

      It was the intelligence agencies. I tend to happen to side with them. Even if Hillary fucked up (she did with the email server as you and I would be thrown in jail if we did this) and Putin just shared information, it is still collusion with a foreign power and treason to a high degree.

      A nation should not be involved in another nation's election or internal affairs. I will say this hypocritically too as an American as we did evil in the name of good in South America to prevent evil communism with propping up Pinochet in Chile who murdered people!

      It was wrong and Russia not only interfered but had counter intelligence agents whose job was sabotage and espionage during the cold war give the information to Trump Jr. Gee what is wrong with that???!!!

    17. Re:Not the first administration.. by Billly+Gates · · Score: 4, Interesting

      No it was not the left or the so called liberal media.

      It was the intelligence agencies. I tend to happen to side with them.

      Why would you trust the intelligence agencies? Do you need a recap of their track record?

      Even if Hillary fucked up (she did with the email server as you and I would be thrown in jail if we did this) and Putin just shared information, it is still collusion with a foreign power and treason to a high degree.

      Are we at war with Russia? Or are they our ally? How is diplomacy with a foreign state we are not at war with treasonous?

      A nation should not be involved in another nation's election or internal affairs. I will say this hypocritically too as an American as we did evil in the name of good in South America to prevent evil communism with propping up Pinochet in Chile who murdered people!

      Why not? It's called diplomacy. The US does it all the time. And if you want to call out examples of when the US does bad things, why stop at one?

      It was wrong and Russia not only interfered but had counter intelligence agents whose job was sabotage and espionage during the cold war give the information to Trump Jr. Gee what is wrong with that???!!!

      Where's the evidence? It's been almost a year now since these allegations started.
      Further, was anything exposed false? If Putin himself "hacked" Hillary's emails (and remember - this was all due to a certain moran falling for a phishing email) and hand delivered it to Trump, so what? Putin should be given a damned medal for exposing Hillary's shit.

      You'll jump to believe some made up shit about prostitutes and water sports as long as Wolf Blitzer reads it out to you. But when faced with actual evidence of gross misbehavior and wrongdoing, you get into a tizzy about the way someone got caught.

      What's the evidence? Have you been watching the news? Let's say Isis and Iran met with an Hillary aide. THey share information to wikileaks just 4 days before the election. Hilary hires her daughter to speak with an Iranian national guard who did espionage work during the Reagan years against the US. Iran wants some sanctions lifted and Isis wants to be recognized.

      Boom! Hillary wins by a landslide and 4 more years of liberal rule after all the negative news about Trump suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

      Let me ask you this? Would you be somewhat bothered if this were true? I mean ask yourself if this is normal diplomacy and you wouldn't be upset one bit? Or would you be getting your torches and pitchforks and call for investigations and impeachment? We are not at war with Isis or Iran so that is ok right?

      I am a democrat so I will disclaim this. But if that were true I would be outraged! I would want her head on a block and have her tried for treason. I know you would too as I assume you are Republican of course. To me this is an American issue not political.

      If you support Putin and are not a troll and want to give a medal then you are un-American and a piece of shit as I would not if the reverse were true. I do not want a nation of supporting parties like football teams regardless of the consequences.

    18. Re:Not the first administration.. by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Calling her "Shillary" isn't sexist. It means she's a shill. Perhaps you were thinking of "Shrillary"?

      Successful voter fraud isn't detected. "There have been studies" actually means "there have been surveys of people self reporting voter fraud" and "someone counted up the few dumbasses who got caught". And yes, most non-Democrats would absolutely support voter ID laws where the ID was free and easy to get.

      Feelings don't mean shit, I agree. Yet here we are - liberals FEEL that Trump is guilty of something, they FEEL he's violating a clause about emoluments, etc. None of it is based in fact, but they FEEL it.

      Did you skip a number? I don't know about project veritas, but if you're going to throw out illegitimate news sources for publishing nothing but bullshit, then you need to throw out the vast majority of news networks and newspapers.

      You're proving voter fraud by redefining voter fraud? Damn, you're hopeless. ID's aren't hard to get, it's not "one step away from treason", etc. States get the votes they do as per the constitution. It's deliberately designed so that populous states don't get to run the show. You may not like it, but it's a good design because it keeps people like you from hijacking the nation.

      But again, you're going on your feelings. Which by your own admission aren't worth shit.

    19. Re:Not the first administration.. by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 2

      Then why did Jill Stein request a recount in three states?

      Well they say the first stage is denial... or maybe it was just desperate hope that a manual recount would change the outcome. After all, why only do it in three states? If it was a real allegation of voter fraud, the she would not have said this:

      Stein has said she has no evidence of fraud going into a recount of ballots in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, but wants to ensure the integrity of the election.

      But it certainly wasn't a widespread belief of the entire group called "the Left".

    20. Re: Not the first administration.. by TheMeuge · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I cannot support the current administration. But the amount of doublespeak I hear regarding Russia's "influence" on the last elections from Democrat mouths and their mouthpieces like CNN, WashPo, and NYT is simply astounding. They are both claiming that they only talk about influence rather than an actual conspiracy; and trying very hard to make every article imply that there's a full blown Manchurian candidate conspiracy... sometimes in the same paragraph. As a result the public perception is that Russia was literally responsible for the results of the least election... effectively rendering irrelevant the American voices of those who voted. Undoubtedly that's the actual intent, conscious or not.

      Finally let's consider Russia's position here, as well as our indignant stand of faux moral superiority. It's ok for us to topple numerous governments militarily or with outright financial support of the opposition... it's ok for us to start a civil war between Russia and it's closest neighbor culturally and politically for the past 1000 years, by supporting violent racists who aim to persecute a large percent of their population. But if Russia expresses support for a presidential candidate who thought a different diplomatic approach would be more fruitful after the disastrous foreign policy of the last 8 years (or so they thought), we all shake our heads in disbelief "how dare they". Has this country regressed into childhood this much?

      What's good for the goose...

      If we are so weak, we should regrow some balls, or we'll shortly be gone.

    21. Re: Not the first administration.. by cahuenga · · Score: 1

      Doxing individuals who are publicly disagreeing with your policies is something completely different.

    22. Re: Not the first administration.. by TheMeuge · · Score: 1

      Good one troll.

      If anyone voted for Trump, must be cause they're stupid racist and bought by Russia.
      If anyone speaks against your party line, it's because they're a Russian agent.

      So it's either a Democrat opinion or it's not real or malicious. One party system is great, eh comrade?

      By the way, tell me what's better for Russia as an enemy of the US - one favorable president or a society that eats itself to the point of destruction?

    23. Re:Not the first administration.. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      ..to not give a fuck about your privacy.

      Nice deflection Kellyanne!

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    24. Re: Not the first administration.. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Funny

      If you are outraged now, but were not last year, then your outrage is dishonest political spectacle.

      Dammit Boris, Your post was too many levels of deflection. No rubles for you until you post better. Get back to work and do better work for the motherland.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    25. Re: Not the first administration.. by jeremyp · · Score: 2

      What past administrations did has no bearing on whether the current administration is doing good or bad. Calling "hypocrisy" is just a bullshit way of trying to shut down the conversation.

      Also, don't forget that the Obama were not a bunch of venal conmen, lying citrus fruits and traitors to their country.

      --
      All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
    26. Re:Not the first administration.. by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      That is a lie. The left has never made a claim of voter fraud.

      California Progressives Allege Voter Fraud in Democratic Party Election, Demand Voter ID. Oops. When you get it wrong right out of the gate, kind of deflates the rest of your post, doesn't it?

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    27. Re:Not the first administration.. by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 4, Informative

      If the Russians have information that Hillary is trying to hide, the American people should be demanding to know what it is, and thanking the Russians for providing it.

      It's funny to hear this argument when every leak that is embarrassing to the Trump administration gets met with attempts by conservative pundits to redirect the discussion to finding and prosecuting the leakers. Apparently, demanding to know what Trump is trying to hide and thanking the leakers doesn't seem so important.

    28. Re:Not the first administration.. by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      Except this is stuff that states already sell to anyone that cares to pay for it. The righteous indignation is nothing more than blatant hypocrisy.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    29. Re: Not the first administration.. by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Be angry at Obama for WHAT?

      For watering down Obamacare at the insistence of Republicans.

      The reason Obamacare is a train wreck is because the Republicans made it that way. For all their talk of the Democrats ramming it through, the reality is that the Democrats let the Republicans be involved in shaping that bill. The original plan was to have a single-payer system with a base-level public option that would have effectively cut the insurance companies off at the knees.

      All of the failings of Obamacare—the insurance companies leaving the exchanges over cost, the insurance companies cranking up prices to extortionate levels, etc.—would not have happened under the original, Democrat plan. Had the Democrats rammed that through, the Republicans would still be pissing themselves, unable to find anything wrong with the plan. Instead, the Democrats chose to work across the aisle and created a bill that had fundamental structural problems, introduced by the Republicans so that that they would have cause to tear it down later.

      So no, I wasn't mad at the Obama administration or the Democrats when they were in power (for two years), because they have never acted the way Republicans have. Democrats have never refused to let Republicans have a seat at the table, even when the result was something demonstrably worse as a result. And the only times that the Democrats have "rammed a bill through" have occurred as a direct result of Republicans locking arms and voting the way their party leadership told them to vote rather than voting based on what was best for their states, even after the Democrats made huge concessions to try to get Republican votes.

      This is not to say that the Democrats don't engage in those sorts of politics to a limited degree, but arguing that they are equally bad in that regard is like saying that slapping somebody across the face is the same as shooting someone. The Republicans are much, much, much worse at outright rejecting the opinions of Democrats, they are much, much, much worse at compromise, and they are much, much, much worse when it comes to voting as a block of mindless drones instead of as individuals. So I'm mildly annoyed with the Democrats for their bad behavior, because it is mildly bad, and I'm furious at the Republicans for their bad behavior, because it is atrocious.

      And lest you think this comes from a rabid Democrat, I've voted for both parties over the years, and I think both of our Democrat senators are terrible, and have voted against both of them consistently for the past decade.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    30. Re:Not the first administration.. by HiThere · · Score: 1

      EVERY previous administration has a least pretended to care about the privacy of the citizenry. I'll admit that it was often clearly a pretense, and none cared very much.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    31. Re:Not the first administration.. by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 1

      Nice try, but that isn't talking about the same election!

    32. Re: Not the first administration.. by TheMeuge · · Score: 1

      I wasn't born in the US and was trying to correct the typical American ignorance about the geopolitics of the regions we interfere in.

    33. Re:Not the first administration.. by ZipK · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Objectively, if you look back at the Nixon administration, he seemed well liked.

      In part because evidence of Nixon ordering Haldeman to monkey-wrench LBJ's Vietnam peace talks didn't surface until recently. Whatever positive qualities Nixon may have had as a statesman were completely undercut by his paranoia and treachery. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/1...

    34. Re: Not the first administration.. by ChatHuant · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Be angry at Obama for WHAT?

      For sweeping all the crimes of the Bush administration under the rug in the name of some Pollyannesque idea that Republicans will work with him for the good of America. That showed an amazing lack of awareness and judgement. The same Kumbaya approach was visible during the Obamacare negotiations and led to the Republicans' effective sabotage of the law.

      The first thing Obama should have done is start a hundred investigations - into the reasons why America was pushed into a catastrophic war by a lying administration, into the staggering incompetent way post-war Iraq and Afghanistan were handled (for example, investigate how the Republican governor of Iraq was named based on party loyalty, not on competence), on the incredible waste of money (billions of dollars, literally pallets of cash, were sent to Iraq and vanished). America needed and deserved this cleaning process, and it was Obama's duty, as president, to shine a light into all this morass. If the Republican party had been properly slapped at this time, if half of the Bush administration had been jailed as they so richly deserved, we would all have been better off.

    35. Re: Not the first administration.. by acrimonious+howard · · Score: 2

      Wow, since when have vehement posts on slashdot been spot on?

    36. Re:Not the first administration.. by drago177 · · Score: 3, Informative

      it is still collusion with a foreign power and treason to a high degree.

      Are we at war with Russia? Or are they our ally? How is diplomacy with a foreign state we are not at war with treasonous?

      This is beyond diplomacy, you do not have to be at war with a country.
      A federal law, Section 30121 of Title 52, makes it a crime for any foreigner to contribute or donate money or some “other thing of value” in connection with an American election, or for anyone to solicit a foreigner to do so. Previous court cases concerning similar related laws have held, that a “thing of value” can be something intangible, like information.

    37. Re: Not the first administration.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Stop trying to fix their revisionist history with facts!

    38. Re:Not the first administration.. by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      (she did with the email server as you and I would be thrown in jail if we did this)

      Nope. You or I might lose our security clearances and/or our jobs, and it would definitely be a career-limiting move, but nobody was thrown in jail for inadvertent mishandling of classified information. Everyone who saw jail or prison time mishandled it deliberately.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  2. Evil? Or incompetence? by Lisandro · · Score: 1

    And, does it really makes any difference?

    1. Re:Evil? Or incompetence? by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Evil is worse, because prisons are more expensive than colleges (preyear).

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
  3. Re:The summary is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, it did happen. Calling things you don't like "bullshit" or "fake news" doesn't magically make them go away.

  4. Re: The summary is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Oh Bartles, you still believe there were 30 million illegals voting, don't you?

    Tell you what, why don't you march into Bannon's office and tell him to stop crapping up the joint? Even COBRA did better job at world domination.

  5. Re:They didn't... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This. I live in Seattle, and my vote hasn't counted a single time since we switched to voting by mail. I was hoping Trump would expose the massive fraud here.

  6. Reminder by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One of the pieces of information that the Trump administration is demanding from the states is how voters voted. They want to know if you voted for Trump or one of his opponents.

    Let that sink in for a second. Imaging the Slashdot comments section if a President Clinton or President Obama demanded this same information from the states. Remember, the Constitution gives the power over all US elections to the states.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Reminder by HornWumpus · · Score: 5, Informative

      You're making that up. The states don't have that information and everybody (but you) knows it.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    2. Re:Reminder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is false.

      What they asked for was all the publicly available information from the election commissions in the various states. They explicitly said they only wanted information that is publicly available anyway and were merely requesting it directly rather than trying to go through 50 different processes to get 50 different datasets.

      How you voted is not public information and likely isn't even recorded anywhere. It was never requested.

      This yet another instance of false outrage from the left over things that never happened.

    3. Re:Reminder by glitch! · · Score: 1

      One of the pieces of information that the Trump administration is demanding from the states is how voters voted.

      This can be read two ways. We already know the official aggregate tallies. It seems (am I correct?) that they are thinking that the party affiliations are indicative of voting results. If so, that assumption is ridiculous and stupid. I am registered with the Republican party, but I voted for another as a protest vote. Actually, this describes every election since Bush 1. He broke his oath. I wish there was actually a hell for him to burn in.

      --
      A dingo ate my sig...
    4. Re:Reminder by dmomo · · Score: 1

      Have you seen how voting works in Massachusetts? They don't have that information. They only have name, address, party affiliation and whether or not the person voted. Our name is simply crossed off a list by hand. Then, we take a ballot from a stack of ballots, fill it out and feed it into a machine.

    5. Re:Reminder by guruevi · · Score: 2

      Voting ballots are anonymous.

      But otherwise great story bro.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    6. Re: Reminder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Nobody ever said Trump's stooges were bound by reality. Kris Kobach has been known to totally make things up as he works himself into a frothing lather over his delusional concerns about voting.

      A smarter man would not let such a brazen ideologue anywhere near a legitimate commission. Then you might not have problems when you have them asking for voting history, and people might not distrust you.

    7. Re:Reminder by Kierthos · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You're both right and wrong.

      How you voted in the general election is not, to the best of my knowledge, tracked. That you voted (or didn't) is.

      But, in many states, they track if you voted in a primary as well, and which one. Because in those states (the state I live in being one of them), you can either vote in the Republican primary or the Democratic primary. And notably, the primaries are not held on the same day.

      So, my state would have information that I voted in the Democratic primary in the last election cycle. From that, it can be assumed that if I voted (I did), I probably voted Democratic. (The percent of people who stink vote during primaries is remarkably small.)

      --
      Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    8. Re:Reminder by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Have you seen how voting works in Massachusetts?

      There are certain (blue) states that have done a good job of voter information security. There have already been proof of concept deanonymization attacks on voter machines in certain (red) states.

      Have you seen how voting works in Texas?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    9. Re: Reminder by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Ballots contain zero personal information.

      Ever seen how an absentee ballot shows up? Vote by mail has been growing in every election over the past several decades. They absolutely have personal information.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    10. Re:Reminder by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 1

      Deflect! Deflect! OK!

      To be fair, it is not deflection if it is in direction response to someone else speculating what would happen if Obama did this.

    11. Re: Reminder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yes, I have.

      What happens is that you sign your name to the envelope that you put the ballot into. The ballot itself has only your vote on it. The partisan election watchers match your signature on the envelope to the voter records. When your vote is actually counted, the election workers open and discard the envelope, counting your vote. None of the states keep official records of who you cast votes for, only of party registration and whether you returned a ballot at all. As this is what they are requesting, this is what's available. We have copies of the letters. Third-hand stories from journalists who spout opinions while being too lazy to link to the damned thing will only get you mocked around here.

      Your goalpost-moving conspiracy nonsense about states with an official record of what actual votes people cast is utter nonsense. Moreover, because this data is a public record in most states, which anyone who jumps through the right hoops can request, feel free to show us the public records of any US state that has this data. This is a very simple, testable claim. All you have to do is get the public data from any state that shows us both the voter name and the candidate they voted for. No, showing us the party they're registered with doesn't count. I personally have voted against my party registration on numerous occasions and there are good reasons to want to control which primary you vote in.

      You will not do that because you cannot do that and every further post without that, especially any which move the goalposts again, will be taken as an admission that you were wrong.

    12. Re:Reminder by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      One of the pieces of information that the Trump administration is demanding from the states is how voters voted. They want to know if you voted for Trump or one of his opponents.

      Let that sink in for a second. Imaging the Slashdot comments section if a President Clinton or President Obama demanded this same information from the states. Remember, the Constitution gives the power over all US elections to the states.

      That is different. Trump has an R next to his name so it's ok. I agree if someone with a D next to his name did that then we would need to impeach and form an armed rebellion as that would be socialist!

      Yes sarcasm implied.

        Sadly, many on my facebook friends list actually agree with my above comment. Disclaimer I am a Democrat so I am biased, but what keeps me up at night is this super hyper partisanship where it is like cheering for a football team! The fact the right admires Putin and sees nothing wrong scares me. This too and you brought this up as I know if Obama did this every FaceBook meme and AM Radio, infowars, church pastors, and Rush Limbaugh would be freaking out.

      I would hope and I know if Trump had a D next to his name you bet I would vote Republican and do whatever in my power to stop him as a private citizen. Not because he is conservative, but because he is incompetent, not intelligent enough, and too psychologically unstable and collusion with a foreign power.

      Yes I know I am probably going to be modded -1 by Republican moderators here, but I stand by what I said if Trump were running as a democrat (infact he was a democrat for most of his life).

      This is scary stuff regardless and the problem is not a president trying to find digs on voters and potential enemies, but rather half the country doesn't care or is supportive based on someone just because he is a Republican and gosh jolly that is my football team so I must support it attitude.

    13. Re:Reminder by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      I live in Texas. Voting is done in churches in some areas and so are meetings with politicians with it's citizens. An obvious way to imploy power from the religious right.

    14. Re:Reminder by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Re "They want to know if you voted for Trump or one of his opponents."
      The USA does not keep count of "how" each person voted. The voting is done in secret.

      The problem is the numbers of noncitizens voting illegally in U.S. elections.
      Study supports Trump: 5.7 million noncitizens may have cast illegal votes (June 19, 2017)
      http://www.washingtontimes.com...

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    15. Re:Reminder by No+Longer+an+AC · · Score: 1

      I've lived in a few states and I never thought anything about voting in a school or a church or a strip mall. They're just places which are available and can accommodate voting.

      I live in Colorado now and for last fall's election I brought my ballot to the nearest voting location which was a church. It wasn't just for dropping off ballots either. In-person voting was going on too. Somehow Clinton still won Colorado.

    16. Re:Reminder by MobyDisk · · Score: 1

      One of the pieces of information that the Trump administration is demanding from the states is how voters voted.

      By "how voters voted" you mean - like paper ballot -vs- electronic -vs- mail-in? I didn't see that in any of the linked articles, or really any articles linked from there. If you mean "who they voted for" that also wasn't in the articles, and in theory it isn't supposed to be kept. If they did, that would violate several treaties and some state constitutions (West Virginia, not sure what others?)

    17. Re:Reminder by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

      Here's the actual request from the letter sent to Maine:

      publicly available voter roll data for Maine, including, if publicly available under the laws of your state, the full first and last names of all registrants, middle names or initials if available, addresses, dates of birth, political party (if recorded in your state), last four digits of social security number if available, voter history (elections voted in) from 2006 onward, active/inactive status, cancelled status, information regarding any felony convictions, information regarding voter registration in another state, information regarding military status, and overseas citizen information.

      You can interpret the phrase "voter history (elections voted in) from 2006 onward" two ways... a history of which elections you voted in or a history of what your votes were in the elections you voted in.

      Yes, we know which one it SHOULD be interpreted as and states aren't supposed to keep a record of what your votes were, but the government wasn't supposed to gathering massive amounts of telephone records either and then we found out that they were. We have no proof that the data isn't being retained by someone.

      Aside from that, the problem is that this fishing expedition, which has been triggered by Trump's inability to accept that he lost the popular vote, will create a database with no rules for who can access it and use the information in it. At the very least, it would be the wet dream of every politician who wants to engage in gerrymandering.

    18. Re:Reminder by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      If they did, that would violate several treaties and some state constitutions (West Virginia, not sure what others?)

      These are the grounds that so many governors are using to refuse to give the information to Trump and his goons.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    19. Re:Reminder by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

      Go here:

      http://www.elections.virginia....

      That's a list of stuff that Virginia will sell to you. You know - state of Virginia, Governor Terry McAullife who's standing up to that evil Trump and not giving him a damned thing!!!!!

      Yeah, but he'll sell it to you.

      One of the items in the list:

      "Vote History List (VHL) – a list of those persons who voted in a primary, special or general election in a specified jurisdiction, legislative, election district or statewide over a four year time period."

      That's what they're talking about.

      You know what's funny? Since people like me are pointing out their hypocrisy they changed the page. Here's what it said last week:

      "Vote History List (VHL) – full name, gender, date of birth, registration date, date last registration form received, registration status, locality, precinct, voting districts, voter identification number, election date, election type, and whether the voter voted in-person or absentee. Grouped by election, chronologically."

      They took away some of the specifics since it makes them (properly) look like hypocrites.

    20. Re:Reminder by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      In states where you register for a party primary, it's a good guess. Not all states do that.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    21. Re: Reminder by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Sure, I've even filed one before. The ballot, which is handled separately from the return envelope, has no personally identifiable information on it. If your state, or any state you're aware of, does differently, go ahead name it. As it is, I think you're just making concerns up.

  7. Re:Bullshit by Lisandro · · Score: 1

    One of the pieces of data requested for every voter is party affiliation: https://www.theguardian.com/us...

    I'll let you do the math.

  8. Passive Aggressive by mfh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sure let's hear what you have to say. What did you say? You don't want people to have access to your private personal information? Let's see here... okay so we'll go ahead and just release some of that publicly for you. Don't complain. We haven't released EVERYTHING on you, just yet...

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    1. Re:Passive Aggressive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't worry. None of the Trump supporters are the sorts of vindictive people who would actually use this information to go harass people who didn't vote for Trump. A more stable group of concerned citizens you have never seen before and will never see again.

  9. Re:Da fuq by glitch! · · Score: 1

    When I got my latest voter registration card, the county agent seemed to be pretty careful about checking my residency info, but I don't think she got my SSN. Of course, the state has my SSN and other info, and they _could_ put it together and publish it if they wanted. I don't think they would, but... so what?! My SSN is just a number. And as I will answer below, my party "affiliation" is fodder for the genuinely stupid. I did NOT vote for "my" party candidate.

    --
    A dingo ate my sig...
  10. I'm just waiting... by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    ...for people to start throwing molotov cocktails at Trump's properties. Seriously, I think stuff like that is just around the corner.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re: I'm just waiting... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      There is nothing we can do ... but then again maybe the 2nd amendment people ...

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    2. Re:I'm just waiting... by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 1

      ...for people to start throwing molotov cocktails at Trump's properties

      Or they will shoot up his local pizza parlor!

    3. Re:I'm just waiting... by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      I completely agree. It would be bad news for everyone.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  11. Re:Da fuq by glitch! · · Score: 1

    I am not "new" by an means. But to feed your story, the answers are "hunt" and 6443. Have fun with that.

    --
    A dingo ate my sig...
  12. Re:The summary is... by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

    Is there a specific factual issue with the summary you object to?

  13. Re:"Goatse"? by bettodavis · · Score: 1

    Exactly that.

    "If you want my personal information, you can go look at Goatse"

  14. Direct link to messages by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Direct link to messages, yes they are almost all childish it seems.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/docs/comments-received-june-29-through-july-11-2017.pdf

  15. Re:No... by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

    Perhaps the Republicana should.look at the current t office holder for the source of most of their problems. Of late they could also look at the idiot eldest son of his

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  16. We’re technologically savvy by Picodon · · Score: 3

    I remember when, not so long ago, people were making fun of presidents and other politicians for being technologically illiterate, and perhaps not even knowing what a “mouse” was. Well, I have to give it to the current administration. Not only are they masters of the technology (databases, social media, etc.), they’ve now officially embraced one of the latest social trends: doxing!

    The times, they are a-changing...

    1. Re:We’re technologically savvy by Huge_UID · · Score: 1

      Submitter here. Original headline was White House doxxes "election integrity" commission critics. Slashdot editors do edit - and they improved my submission.

  17. Re:They didn't... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    but kudos for the media for following their agenda.

    This. Influencing the narrative is the entire reason the media exists.

  18. People? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    I would not really call people who use violence to intimidate others people. They are something less.

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
    1. Re:People? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      people who use violence to intimidate others

      I don't think the idea would be intimidation as much as it would be retribution. It would be taking money from a man that only likes himself and money.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    2. Re:People? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

      Retribution for what exactly? Are you saying all rich people took money from others and should be killed or have their property damaged? Do you truly believe that or are you so sick in the head that you do not know how evil you are being.

      Might I ask how much you make? Since you are on these forums, the average is pretty well to do. So, you think it is ok if someone from the inner city comes and hurts you and your family and torches your house, because you have more. Funny, people who say stupid things like this never regard themselves as the rich, even though they are.

      Lastly, you do not know Trumps motivations or anyone else's. You are so vile in your mind that you completely think it is justifiable to demonize someone because they disagree with you. It does not matter than many Trump workers have nice things to say about their boss. It does not matter how much he gave to charity....especially compared to some you probably idolize. All that matters is that someone told you that he is the enemy and deserves to be killed, and you are such an embarrassment to humanity that you believed it. You are devoid of rational thought, making you the true subhuman.

      --
      "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
    3. Re:People? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      Retribution for what exactly?

      Let's see, there's releasing people's personal details, gutting the EPA and enabling bad practices with coal, appointing a guy that is trashing FCC rules that kept the internet free, the total disregard for women, enabling neo-nazis, etc. Suffice it to say, there are lots of things.

      The rest of your post is garbage accusing me of things I never claimed. People lash out when they feel threatened or hurt which is why I'm expecting them to behave in such a manner.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    4. Re:People? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

      1. Releasing details was not actually a Trump policy, but a mistake made by the government. You did actually read the article didn't you? Ha ha, we both know you are a terrible person, and not that smart. Lets face it.

      2. By gutting the EPA, what exactly did her remove, in this so called gutting? Without having read any of the recent EPA documents and seeing how it overstepped its mission in the last several years, I suspect you do not know why it needs to be paired back some. Again, terrible people like yourself are not so smart, do not read beyond the blog level, and rational thought is beyond you.
      3. What bad practices did he enable? I am sure you mean he undid some Obama era rule by fiat restricting its mining. Now, terrible people like you do not understand it is minded in other places with dirtier forms of coal, and used without pollution removal in China. But, if its not made here, its green right? You believe this because you are a terrible person.

      4. Want to know the terrible truth? Let me see, there is only one person in this conversation who supports violence for those who disagree with them. This person also believes in statist control of industry, omni-powerful government, and the use of any means necessary to get policy in place. There was another group of people who believed all these things. We call them Nazis. I would say go read about it, but lets face it, you are not very smart and a terrible person. This is how Nazis come to be. They believe in something and do not question it. Then, they believe any who disagree are an evil to be removed. So you sir are Nazi in the truest sense of the word. The world would be better without you in it.

      5. "The rest of the garbage"--translation, my small, limited brain can't counter the arguments, so I will pretend I am above it. Yes, you are rich. No, you don't think that you are. No, you don't want your own ideology applied to you. Nazi.

      Suffice it to say, you have nothing. You demonstrated nothing. You are nothing.

      Nazi

      --
      "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
    5. Re:People? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

      Btw Nazi, This is a very old thread that no one else is reading. It is so pathetic that you are self modding yourself up. But then again, Nazi are pretty insecure.

      --
      "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
    6. Re:People? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      you have nothing. You demonstrated nothing. You are nothing.

      U MAD? ;)

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    7. Re:People? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

      Yes, I am always angry at Nazis. You are the scum of the earth.

      --
      "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
    8. Re:People? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      You shouldn't be so hard on yourself.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    9. Re:People? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

      Your comment makes no sense. It is at the level of grade school, but then again, what does one expect from a Nazi?

      --
      "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  19. Seriously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    WTF is wrong with your government? That sort of shit would bring down a government in any sane first-world democracy.

    True freedom.

  20. Re:Bullshit by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    Explain how that's possible at all...

    Two of the items on the demand list from the voter fraud "commission" are 1) party affiliation, and 2) voting record. The possibility of deanonymization of votes in several states has already been proven. In fact, there are data brokers selling personal information of conservative voters. For more information about this, I suggest checking EFF's site. This has been an issue of theirs for a while.

     

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  21. Re:READ THE MESSAGES! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Do you not know how email campaigns work? Oh course they need to have people's names on them so they can demonstrate they didn't just randomly generate a bunch of emails. I don't think you thought that through.

    Have you ever used one of those types of sites? Generally you subscribe to a mailing list about issues you're interested in, you get random emails about such issues with a link to send a letter to your representative (how many people bother to keep track of their government's contact info?), click on the link and you get a form with your contact info and a letter already written out. You can edit the content or send it as is. Most people are too lazy to edit so they send it as is.

  22. Re: Why is this modded up? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    We can't have an intellectual discussion because you won't see what is painfully obvious to the rest of us: Trump is an unmitigated dumpster fire, who will do serious damage to this nation at best, and will set us back 100 years or more at worst.

  23. Re:And the reality happened by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Informative

    The otter convient fact is that the voter roles are being looked into because there are wide scale voter fraud.

    When Kobach was Kansas Secretary of State, he made ferreting out voter fraud a centerpiece of his administration and conducted a two-year investigation. He found nine cases, mostly older Republicans.

    http://www.politico.com/magazi...

    There is no wide scale voter fraud. It doesn't exist.

    https://www.brennancenter.org/...

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  24. "voting record" means if you voted or not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "Voting record" simply means if you voted or not. It is a highly important data to determine if there is fraudulent voting going on. For instance the same person might be registered in two states. If the "voting record" for one state showed they voted in 8 of the last 10 elections, but not the last 2, and the "voting record" for the other state showed they only voted in the last 2 elections, that is a probable case of them moving and the registration for the first state not being purged. If they voted in the last 2 elections in BOTH states, then that is a sign they maintained their registration in one or the other states illegally.

  25. Re:Why is this modded up? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "with strong efforts to ensure that jobs staid in country" You're a fucking idiot.

  26. uhm.. "editors"? by superwiz · · Score: 1, Informative

    It is supposed to be "White House Releases Sensitive Personal Info ______Of______ Voters Concerned About Privacy". Just because you are linking to an article which has a grammatical error in the title, doesn't mean you should keep the error. That is, unless the post itself is about the error.

    --
    Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    1. Re:uhm.. "editors"? by superwiz · · Score: 1

      Ur gonna complain about THAT?

      THAT is not the title on the front page of the publication. At the very least, the editors should be putting "sic" after a grammatical mistake when they are reposting it. The whole point of editors is to polish up what's published. Unlike comments, which afford to have mistakes because they are drafts and don't represent the publication, that which the editors put on the front page is the very face of the publication.

      --
      Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    2. Re:uhm.. "editors"? by ShamblerBishop · · Score: 1

      Reply from Slashdot editor: "Why thank you for pointing out this error, Mr. superwiz from IP address 81.45.171.2; email wiz@super.edu; address 31 Bellend Avenue, WY; with 3 dogs and a weasel (he also has a stupid stubby looking nose by the way...hah!)"

    3. Re:uhm.. "editors"? by superwiz · · Score: 1

      Yeah, in *that* sentence "from" would appropriate. In the one used in the heading of the article, it would not.

      --
      Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    4. Re:uhm.. "editors"? by superwiz · · Score: 1

      If they wanted to dox me, they already have my real email address. I don't consider posts on slashdot to be anonymous (only pseudo-anonymous).

      --
      Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    5. Re:uhm.. "editors"? by superwiz · · Score: 1

      They literally emailed the information and that information from them was released.

      No, if the sentence was "...information received from ...." (or something like that) that would be appropriate. As it was written, "from" was not grammatically correct. And editors should, by all means, catch that.

      --
      Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
  27. Re: The summary is... by Vairon · · Score: 1

    Could you cite what study you are talking about?

  28. Re: Da fuq by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    Nope. With SSN (and name to match) with mother's maiden name, you can bypass or reset lots of passwords for banks, get new credit cards, and other things.

    DOB and SSN would let you add/drop classes on the phone system at college. DOB + SSN (name not even needed), and you could waste thousands of dollars of someone's money. Or cause them to fail out of college, dropping the classes they are in, enroll them in ones they don't know about, for solid F's for the year.

  29. Re:And the reality happened by Vairon · · Score: 1

    Can you cite any proof of wide scale voter fraud?

    I've only read about four documented cases of vote fraud in 2016.
    https://www.dailykos.com/stori...

  30. Re:Phone Book? by lilrobbie · · Score: 1

    Phonebook is voluntary... this was not.

    If you can't see the difference, then I fear there's no hope left for you.

  31. Re: The summary is... by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    Study supports Trump: 5.7 million noncitizens may have cast illegal votes (June 19, 2017)
    http://www.washingtontimes.com...
    re noncitizens voting illegally in U.S. elections.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  32. But at least by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    we're not "suffering" under Obama anymore.

  33. Re: Why is this modded up? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hard? He's been in office for half a year and already made Bush look like Churchill.

  34. Re:Bullshit by Lisandro · · Score: 1

    Besides your batshit crazy conspiracy theories, what exactly is your point? Obama did it as well so Trump doing it is just peachy?

  35. Re: The summary is... by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

    Sigh. Telling me to go and read something is not very helpful. What specific detail are you objecting to?

  36. Re: The summary is... by mrclevesque · · Score: 1

    From the link:

    "The research organization Just Facts, a widely cited, independent think tank led by self-described conservatives and libertarians, revealed its number-crunching in a report on national immigration."

  37. 20 years too late people by mentholsmooth · · Score: 1

    Did any of you realize that Vox left out a little detail and actively deceived the readers? For those who live under rock, the data they received and reposted is public data and searchable by any goon with a computer and keyboard by nearly every state website. Some states allow the public release of the last four of your social. So it is okay for your state to vomit this information, yet when the federal government, who already spies on every fucking communication made by phone and computer, releases it, it becomes a privacy matter. We civil libertarians have been bitching about this for almost two decades. Where the hell have you all been? Oh that's right. This is a partisan issue drummed up by the media and now you all care. If anything, the Trump administration just made you all aware of something that has been going on for a long time. Welcome to the fight people. Now it is time to put your individual states back in check.

  38. Fascinating by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1
    Normally, Slashdot would be all up in arms about even "anonymized" metadata that might get put out by some outfit, screaming about the American three letter agencies or Google. I share some of that concern.

    What occurs in a story about direct publishing of names and other actual personal info?

    Deflection, and every attempt to change the subject you can imagine. This is an interesting trend we have here. The amount of deflection is ramped up with the provable veracity of the story. This is not consistent with the meme of the intrepid and privacy focused Slashdot user. It is consistent with some other online trends.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  39. Assholes!!! by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    There is no other way to put this: This is an ASSHOLE move by an ASSHOLE 'administration' being led by an ASSHOLE 'President' who continually demonstrates through actions that they don't give a flying FUCK about the average citizen, they only care about their agendas and their corporate and 1%-er cronies. Finding that they've been in bed with Russia the whole time and throwing the entire administration out on their ear can't come soon enough. 2020 elections can't come soon enough. How are you Trump-supporting idiots liking him and his minions now? You all like your privacy AT LEAST AS MUCH AS I DO, and they just took a BIG STEAMING DUMP all over the entire CONCEPT of your privacy, HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

    1. Re:Assholes!!! by coinreturn · · Score: 1

      There is no other way to put this: This is an ASSHOLE move by an ASSHOLE 'administration' being led by an ASSHOLE 'President' who continually demonstrates through actions that they don't give a flying FUCK about the average citizen, they only care about their agendas and their corporate and 1%-er cronies. Finding that they've been in bed with Russia the whole time and throwing the entire administration out on their ear can't come soon enough. 2020 elections can't come soon enough. How are you Trump-supporting idiots liking him and his minions now? You all like your privacy AT LEAST AS MUCH AS I DO, and they just took a BIG STEAMING DUMP all over the entire CONCEPT of your privacy, HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

      I don't think you understand his supporters. Haven't you noticed by now that they think he can do no wrong. No matter how bad it is, they don't care. He, himself, had it right when he said he could shoot someone in broad daylight and lose no voters. His supporters are just plain idiots and there's pretty much nothing you or anyone else can do about it.

    2. Re:Assholes!!! by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      I guess I'm kinder than you are about it. Some of them 'think he can do no wrong'; some of them, as usual, thought he was the 'least worst' of two choices, and many of those are now regretting it, but keeping their heads down and their mouths shut, because they don't want to deal with it. Then there's some who thought he could be controlled, and they're finding out how wrong they were, too. HIs approval rating is currently 39% and dropping. As the reality sinks in it'll just get worse, and when all his promises and schemes are shown to be nonsense, the bottom will drop out. My greatest fear at this point is when they inevitably find the allegations of collusion are true and have to start removing the administration. I don't know what provisions we have in our system of government to handle something on that scale. Guess we'd have the Speaker of the House as POTUS?

    3. Re:Assholes!!! by coinreturn · · Score: 1

      I guess I'm kinder than you are about it. Some of them 'think he can do no wrong'; some of them, as usual, thought he was the 'least worst' of two choices, and many of those are now regretting it, but keeping their heads down and their mouths shut, because they don't want to deal with it. Then there's some who thought he could be controlled, and they're finding out how wrong they were, too. HIs approval rating is currently 39% and dropping. As the reality sinks in it'll just get worse, and when all his promises and schemes are shown to be nonsense, the bottom will drop out. My greatest fear at this point is when they inevitably find the allegations of collusion are true and have to start removing the administration. I don't know what provisions we have in our system of government to handle something on that scale. Guess we'd have the Speaker of the House as POTUS?

      If Ryan thought he could pull it off, I'm sure he'd go for it. But I suspect that Ryan doesn't think he has a realistic chance of getting rid of Pence, even if he could get rid of Trump. They're just thinking they can get their tax cuts passed with Trump; nothing else matters as much to them, though a few more right-wingers on SCOTUS is surely on their wish list.

    4. Re:Assholes!!! by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Did you notice that Pence lawyered up a while back? He, apparently, is not completely stupid: he sees how much of a liability being involved with the current administration is to his political career and saw fit to get ahead of the whole thing as soon as possible; he's a career politician, through-and-through. Five bucks says when the axe falls, he's going to be standing aside of the conflagration, yelling like Ashe in the Bruce Campbell version of Army of Darkness "..hey, I don't even KNOW these assholes!". He'll step aside, co-operate fully with any further Senate an FBI investigations, and try to walk away as cleanly as possible -- or at least I hope that's what happens. I don't think Mike Pence should be POTUS, especially by default.

    5. Re:Assholes!!! by coinreturn · · Score: 1

      Did you notice that Pence lawyered up a while back? He, apparently, is not completely stupid: he sees how much of a liability being involved with the current administration is to his political career and saw fit to get ahead of the whole thing as soon as possible; he's a career politician, through-and-through. Five bucks says when the axe falls, he's going to be standing aside of the conflagration, yelling like Ashe in the Bruce Campbell version of Army of Darkness "..hey, I don't even KNOW these assholes!". He'll step aside, co-operate fully with any further Senate an FBI investigations, and try to walk away as cleanly as possible -- or at least I hope that's what happens. I don't think Mike Pence should be POTUS, especially by default.

      Of course Pence shouldn't be POTUS, much like Trump shouldn't be POTUS, but Pence is smart enough to be still standing when Trump gets the axe. I wonder if that's why he even agreed to be VPOTUS in the first place.

    6. Re:Assholes!!! by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Why wouldn't a career politician want a shot at being VP? Granted, it's kind of the 1st Runner Up Consolation Prize in the political beauty pageant, but if that's as close as you think you'll ever get, then I guess you take it. There's also the possibility that the GOP knew a populist Trump was their only way in, knew he'd probably get ousted at some point, maybe even planned on throwing him under the bus when the time was right, so they'd get Dominionist ultra-conservative Pence in the Big Chair. It's a bit Machiavellian but it's plausible.

    7. Re:Assholes!!! by coinreturn · · Score: 1

      Why wouldn't a career politician want a shot at being VP? Granted, it's kind of the 1st Runner Up Consolation Prize in the political beauty pageant, but if that's as close as you think you'll ever get, then I guess you take it. There's also the possibility that the GOP knew a populist Trump was their only way in, knew he'd probably get ousted at some point, maybe even planned on throwing him under the bus when the time was right, so they'd get Dominionist ultra-conservative Pence in the Big Chair. It's a bit Machiavellian but it's plausible.

      I don't think the GOP necessarily wanted Trump at all, I was just talking about Pence's reason for taking the VP. Most people thought Trump was a third rail and would kill your political future. If Trump had lost, would Pence ever be heard from again?

  40. Greg Palast by memnock · · Score: 1

    has been covering voting shenanigans since 2000. He spoke to WMNF(.org) news on 6 July about his investigation into this farce of an integrity project. His website.

  41. Re: The summary is... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    From the link:

    Its investigation found that Virginia removed more than 5,500 noncitizens from voter lists, including 1,852 people who had cast more than 7,000 ballots. The people volunteered their status, most likely when acquiring driver’s licenses. The Public Interest Legal Foundation said there are likely many more illegal voters on Virginia’s rolls who have never admitted to being noncitizens.

    Perhaps scrubbing the voter rolls would be a good thing...

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  42. Re: And the reality happened by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    Four states have mandatory absentee/vote-by-mail: California (starting in 2018), Colorado, Washington and Oregon. What do those States also have in common? They vote Democrat (the last 3, overwhelmingly so). It would seem, therefore, if Democrats were really interested in fair and honest elections they would cheer for regular voting registration reviews and voter roll purges, so their easier-to-commit-fraud elections would be fair and above reproach. Yet the opposite happens... Why is that?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  43. Re: The summary is... by mrclevesque · · Score: 1

    "The Public Interest Legal Foundation said there are likely many more ..."

    Why should we consider the numbers from an 'investigation' of a group of conservative lawyers seriously, lawyers who make it their job, and are payed, to promote the idea of voter fraud.

    https://publicinterestlegal.or...

  44. Re: The summary is... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    Uh, the State removed 5500 NONCITIZEN registered voters, and at least 1,852 of those ILLEGAL VOTERS actually cast ballots. You keep trying to pitch this as a "right wing nut jobs" kind of thing, but this is hard, factual actions taken by States. Actual REAL illegal votes cast (7,000 in Virginia alone). Documented. Get off the "conservative nut job" talking points. Non-citizen voting is a real thing. Or do you want to disenfranchise your fellow citizens? Do you want it to be "it's not the votes that count, but who counts the vote"?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  45. Misleading by sumdumfuk · · Score: 1

    It wasnt that they were publishing voter information, they posted the emails that they received over the concerns about the collection of it. It even stated right on the website: "Any member of the public wishing to submit written comments for the Commission’s consideration may do so via email at ElectionIntegrityStaff@ovp.eop.gov. Please note that the Commission may post such written comments publicly on our website, including names and contact information that are submitted." So DUH....People never read and just react. This story is just more BS.

  46. Lots of trolls on this story by HiThere · · Score: 1

    To me is looks as if this story has dragged in a bunch of astroturfers.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  47. Re: Why is this modded up? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Bush looks like Churchill who 'invaded' the Dardanelles.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  48. Vox has no problem with doxxing. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    The only time they care is if it's not going to a correct target.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  49. Re: The summary is... by Vairon · · Score: 2

    The page you linked is concerning the 2008 election not the 2016 election. What proof or scientifically defensibly study do you have about 2016?

    The underlying study by Jesse T. Richman, Gulshan A. Chattha and David C. Earnest found only five non-citizens self reported as voting in 2008 that they could verify out of a study sample size of 32,800 people.

    If you are interested in reading the actual 2014 study concerning the 2008 election based on polling 32,800 people in 2008 and 55,400 in 2010 here is a link:
    https://ww2.odu.edu/~jrichman/...

    Here is a link to the lead author, Jesse Richman, of that study saying that the washingtontimes.com article is deceptive if anyone believes it's concerning 2016.
    https://fs.wp.odu.edu/jrichman/2017/01/27/i-do-not-support-the-washington-times-piece/

  50. Re:And the reality happened by quantaman · · Score: 1

    If you read the article, you would have seen that a mistake was made in the website. It was not a malicious act. Yet, you and other posters act like this is some vast conspiracy against privacy.

    Not exactly a malicious act, instead it's a mix of incompetency and a complete lack of concern about things like privacy.

    When you take a incompetent people, and give them a checklist of rules they don't care about, they're going to violate those rules. That's why the Trump administration keeps having scandals.

    The otter convient fact is that the voter roles are being looked into because there are wide scale voter fraud.

    Just how many fraudulent voters do you think the left has? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions?

    Don't you find it interesting that the left can apparently organize a small army of illegal voters and no one comes forward to spill the beans? Seriously, can you find a single reputable person who claims to be part of this massive fraud effort?

    Meanwhile, Trump can't organize a meeting with a half-dozen people without it leaking to the press.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  51. Again: Why is this modded up? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    Funny, you took the time to call names, but not defend your argument. The facts say that is has been in office for about half a year and has had several policy successes. His failures have include:

    Having an immigration policy stopped by a Hawaii judge who did not ground his ruling in the constitution. We know this to be the case because the supreme court overturned it unanimously.

    Being embroiled in an investigation for collusion with Russia. Most of the charges have been disproven, and there are several stories indicating this. There are also tapes of various DNC operatives admitting in what they thought were undocumented comments, that they are doing this for ratings and to discredit. They admit, there is nothing there. The new story of Trumps son meeting with the Russians looking for dirt is true. However, there is no evidence of quid pro quo. However, as the issues are being looked into, it does turn out that the Clinton campaign also used foreign sources, at times WITH quid pro quo. I will go out on a limb that you either do not know this or are so addled in your thinking that you fail to see your personal bias leading to ignorance.

    So, there really is not a dumpster fire say as you say. You could not rationally make the argument because in reality it is not true, outside your imagination and that of other people who have gone insane with hatred. Be better.

    So Again, why is this modded up?




    Hear that? That was the sound of your ass being kicked.

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  52. Re: Why is this modded up? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    What exactly did he do that you think was bad? Not your imagination. Facts please.

    You do understand that merely disagreeing with you is not fact. What was the policy he made that you disagree with and what was the outcome that was negative. For example, you would not accept an argument where I say you are completely wrong, just because I said so.

    Try to grow up some and look at the world analytically instead of the childish mindset everything donkey good everything elephant bad.

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  53. Re: Why is this modded up? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    Phantom, glad to see that you are following me! I must be having a good impact on your life.

    Since you do not read a good deal, let me help put your post in the correct context. You are missing key insights into the situation that can only be gained by gathering information from a wide range of sources and taking the time to understand things.

    When Bush entered office, he had a policy of reducing U.S. disengagement. In his first year or so as president, he has begun to pull back from external nations and reduce what he deemed the excessive use of force used by the previous administration. He was very much opposed to nation building. Tragically, history altered his thinking to make him one of the greatest nation building presidents.

    On September 11th, a great tragedy occurred. Thousands of people lost their lives and even first responders were targeted while trying to save them. The nation was in shock, and it was pissed. They wanted blood. They wanted revenge. There were calls to nuke the Muslims back into the stone age. It would have been very easy to give it. It would have been the popular thing to do.

    Then, a remarkable thing happened. The dogs of war were chained by Bush. Instead of plunging us into a war of extermination, he did the unpopular thing and held off until all the forensic evidence was gathered. Instead of broadly targeting Muslims, he tried to find out the exact offshoots that were responsible and targeted them. This took 30 days. To you, it may seem meaningless, but the in the mood of the country at the time, this was nearly unforgivable.

    When operation enduring freedom started, it was swift, surgical and brutally effective. Bush has taken time to try to separate out those who wanted us dead and those of a different fate. He began a program to feed and educate poor Aghanies at the same time the attacks were taking place. He wanted to show that America was a place where we would meet our foes with justice, but show compassion to the downtrodden. It was one of the greatest moments of restraint in history. He turned a bloodbath into a surgical strike of hopeful liberation. I would argue for this, he should have gotten a Nobel Peace prize. Instead, the next president, who gave the world widespread assassination by robot drone, got one for being black. The world has no lack of irony. I digress.

    You may not believe all this, but it was well documented in a book. The book was not written by some right when demagogue as you fear, but by the left leaning Bob Woodward. Woodward was one of journalists who found the corruption in the Nixon whitehouse and bravely pursued it, ultimately bringing down a president. Before 9/11, he was doing a piece to try to understand this presidency better after a bitter campaign that was still contested in many people's mind. After the dark day, he was given near full access to the west wing, so that he could chronicle the decisions and thoughts that went into the response. Bush believed that it was important in a democracy for people to understand why their leaders did what they did, so he offered transparency. Again, it would have been easy to go the other way.

    https://www.amazon.com/Bush-at...

    If you can get the time and tear yourself away from youtube long enough, it is an excellent read. It is not always flattering to the Bush administration. It shows good points and bad.

    I understand you were also including the Iraq war in your "pithy" comment. But to understand the full tragedy of that war, you have to take the time to understand the events leading up to it, and the decision making processes of those involved. Until you do, you opinions on the matter are likely corrupted by childish blog posts and hit pieces designed to denigrate a president of the opposition party. Read the book, and I would love to discuss with you more. The question is, can you leave your bubble?

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  54. Re: Why is this modded up? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Two points:

    1) Whether the Afghanistan war was necessary or not (and there's an argument to be made for it), the execution of the war was poorly done. The day after 9/11, every country in the world was on the side of America. A month later, Bush had managed to turn them all against America. This is poor diplomacy at the least. Furthermore if he'd focused more on that war, it would have been done much more quickly. Instead he got distracted by Iraq.

    2) It was obvious he wanted to invade Iraq before he even got elected. If you watch the debates with Gore you will see this, and if you look at the writings of the people he brought in as his advisors you will this. He wanted to invade Iraq before going into office.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  55. Re: Why is this modded up? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    Interesting comments, but modding yourself up is really trashy. No one else is reading an old thread.

    1. It is not obvious he wanted to invade Iraq before the war. I do not think there is much evidence before that, except for some very ignorant people saying he was a son trying to finish daddies work.

    2.Your recollection of what happened in the Afghanistan war is amazingly faulty. It was a stunning success by all accounts. The country had proven a quagmire of the Soviets, and had fallen with days. You really need to read more and widely. Try not to stay always on anti-bush/conservative web sites.

    3. What you call poor diplomacy did not happen until the Iraq ware. You are getting things confused again. It was positive for the first war.

    4. Again, you have so many things and timelines wrong in your head. You really need to take a deep breath, forget what you think you know, and go back and read. At least, look at the Woodward book. Until then, you are really not worth talking too. You have too great of ignorance of events mixed with such a narrow minded hatred. You are unable to see the nuances of the world. In order to truly understand things, you need to be able to appreciate the complexity of events. Something you will not get by examining only narrow sources and perspectives.

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  56. Re: Bullshit by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Fair enough: you're fine with party affiliation being public data.

    Can't have it both ways.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  57. Re: Why is this modded up? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    1. It is not obvious he wanted to invade Iraq before the war.

    It wasn't obvious to YOU. The people who he hired clearly wanted to invade Iraq.

    2.Your recollection of what happened in the Afghanistan war is amazingly faulty. It was a stunning success by all accounts.

    Seriously..........you wish it was a success and so you twist your vision until it matches your dream.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  58. Re:Phone Book? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    The broader comment is all that information is out there, has been out there, and was also abused heavily during the Obama era. Maybe you are different, but for many on these forums they uttered not a peep then, because their team was in power. Now that another team is in power, they are acting like the end of the world.

    Credibility comes from consistency in positions. There is not a lot of that in slashdot anymore. I wonder if you have been consistent...

    Also, government listing information on purpose is not something to be stood for. Government screwing up (as it actually said in the article if you bothered to read) and posting information, is not good, but it is not the end of things either.

    So, I have to ask, when a similar screw-up occurred with the medical data bases with the affordable care act, did you come out strongly about that too? Or are so lost as a human being you actually think one side is all good and the other is all evil? If so, there is no hope left for you....

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  59. Re: Why is this modded up? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    Again, you are giving your opinion, colored by the bubble you live in after the fact. You still have not gone back and read more about the matter, which shows that you are both ignorant and lazy. This is a sad combination in a human being.

    I offered sources for you to read that are well researched to clarify the matter. You are offering only your opinion, not well researched or thought out. This makes me ask. Are you a millennial?

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  60. Re: Why is this modded up? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Are you going to deny that he brought in advisors who advocated invading Iraq before he ever became president? You sad sack of factlessness.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  61. Re:And the reality happened by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    Here is an example of admitted voter fraud.

    https://www.realclearpolitics....!

    The question comes down to this. Do you think democrats are all purely good people who never do wrong or are they like most human things, flawed in several ways?

    You seem very rational and methodical in your thinking. If you stop to analyze it some, you will catch that you probably have been showing some internal bias where you do not seek out wrong for one party, while assuming the other party is always wrong. Start asking yourself about the sources that you read and how trustable are they. Do you think a source made up of 90% or more from one party will give you a balanced view? If so, you do not believe in the fundamental idea of diversity and why it is important. Groups are very bad at being self analytical.

    The republican party is not terribly good. However, neither is the democrat party. The only way they improve is when people inside them realize this and try to change it.

    Lately, zealousness has infected the democrat party. Members are willing to forgive all sorts of wrong doing on their side, just to get the other side. Ask yourself, why does the democrat party oppose any attempt to ensure the voter rolls are honest? Ask yourself that deeply, if you can.

    The publishing of the voter information was not good. However, were you so up in arms calling the Obama administration did similar things when setting up the data base for the people using the affordable care act? Did you call him incompetent? If not, your rage is false. You just want to hunt the other guy, not fix the system.

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  62. Re: Why is this modded up? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    So far, still your opinion, no facts or references. My what a small bubble you have.

    I am always interested in learning something new. The reason you lean far left is because you are not.

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  63. Re: Why is this modded up? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    btw the reason I get 'modded up' is because I have good karma. No one is coming being after to say they agree with me, you shouldn't take that as a vote in favor or against. Rummie himself signed this.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  64. Re:Phone Book? by lilrobbie · · Score: 1

    You seem to be conflating two issues together.

    The primary focus here is that missives expressing privacy concerns (i.e., NOT the voting records) were reproduced, in full, including contact information, on the White House website. It was voluntary to send the message, but there was no expectation that these would be released online in the fashion they were.

    The other one you are referring to (Trump's demands for voter information), is a different case altogether. But... you are tying together voting with the act of getting your voting preferences released and scruitinsed by others. The big question you need to ask yourself is: was this what the voters were expecting to have happen? If not, then the request by Trump is inappropriate, and this is nothing like a phonebook, as one party is surprised by who has access to their details.

    Please, apply your critical thinking skills to that and see what you come up with...

  65. Re:Phone Book? by lilrobbie · · Score: 1

    I can address your first (and repeated) point upfront: I have no "team" as far as politics are concerned. Like you, I'm also concerned by the rather two-faced nature of Obama's presidency (hello Patriot Act!), and in no way believe the leaks and reductions in civil liberties under his reign are somehow excused due to his party affiliation.

    Now, the bit I'm unsure about (perhaps I've mis-read your original quip incorrectly) is exactly what position you're advocating. You seemed to be decrying the hysteria, when in reality, it sounds like we both agree that this action was not acceptable, and what you are decrying is hypocrisy.

    In this particular instance, in the best case, it was a government screw-up, in a fairly ironic fashion, that serves to demonstrate that the government is not fit to handle the voting data it's requesting. After all, they've just proven they're fundamentally incapable of properly protecting the privacy of said data.

    In the worst case, the government has taken punitive action against individuals who clearly value their privacy enough to write emails. Now, I don't believe this is the case, but... it's still a possibility.

    I agree we shouldn't let Obama get away with being treated like an angel, but are you actually advocating that has any impact on whether this should be ignored or not? I'd suggest that the most balanced view ought to treat these events with equal concern, as a symptom of the underlying rot at present within politics and the government. This is not the end of things... but it's certainly not a step in a direction the government ought to take. And it's certainly not behaviour we ought to be excusing.

  66. Re: Why is this modded up? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    There it is. We follow this long path to find, as expected, it ends in a basement blog. Information Clearing house is not exactly what many call a credible source. IN fact, Harvard goes out of its way to list it as an unreliable new source.

    http://guides.library.harvard....

    So, understandably you have the opinions you do because of your sources. They are both limited and conspiratorial.

    The memo is interesting. Maybe it's real, maybe its not. Sourcing does matter, and with Bush era stuff, it is especially hard since there was so much character assassination going on. Bush was by no means a great president, but he was also not the cartoon villain that the popular media painted him to be. Much like Obama was not the anti-christ that some right wing sources claimed, but his administration was very far from the saintly image the leftish press portrayed. In both cases and i would argue today as well, blatant mischaracterizations diluted honest policy discussions. The losers of this whole thing are the average people.

    If the memo is real, this is what makes the study of the pathway to war interesting. As you look into it more, there were many viewpoints and forces advocating many things. By all accounts, Rumsfeld was a warhawk. So, this fits within the narrative. However, not everyone inside the administration was. Like most of life, it is pretty nuanced.

    When you look at many sources, the bulk of administration started toward peace and a more isolationist stance. After September 11th, the pro-war end of the administration won out. This is what makes the various conspiracy theories about 9/11 so intriguing. Without the twin towers falling, it was going to be a much more peaceful world.

    What is really interesting to ask is, as President, what would you have done? Keep in mind that the arguments (not necessarily the conclusions) of the Rumsfeld memo you linked are essentially true. The policies dealing with Iraq in the Clinton era were not working terribly well either, so the status quo was not a real solution.

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  67. Re:Phone Book? by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    If I mischaracterized your view, for this I am sorry.

    Essentially, we agree on most points. Both things can be true at the same time. It is not good of the government to leak the information, and it should not be excused. It is also true it was not a malicious hunt to destroy people.

    Your point on if this should be ignored is interesting. I guess the next question would be what would you suggest doing? Ignoring it and pretending it did not happen seems silly. I guess I would say note it happened, fix the link, and possibly fire the guy who screwed up. I would also say that drumbeat of hysteria to demonize Trump is not terribly productive or even honest. I am actually interested. What do you think should be done?

    The other problem is how would you fix the election fraud problems? These problems do exist. To me, anyone interested in a fair election would want to make sure the system was not rigged. I am very suspicious toward those who oppose every measure to ensure honesty, while offering no solutions of their own. This seems to smell of people gaming the system protecting what benefits them.

    For example, I live in Texas. There is a problem with illegal alien voting. Even if you feel that they live here and should have a vote, the current law says otherwise. There was also some evidence of people voting under other people's identity. To correct this, a law was passed requiring an ID to vote. Please keep in mind that you need an ID to by alcohol, open a bank account, get cable tv, whatever. To function at all in society, you have to have a driver's license/ID. Yet, this was opposed by the local democrat party-- even after a provision was made to pay for an ID for the very poor who could not afford one. This is not a perfect fix, but it would clean up the voter rolls some. There really is no reason to block this save.....you are benefiting from dirty voter rolls.

    I tell you that long boring story to say this. I suspect that we would both agree that giving the government too much information and power is not a brilliant idea. However, rejecting all solutions to this problem is not acceptable either.

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.
  68. Re: Why is this modded up? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    The memo is real, it was listed on PNAC's website for a long time. You're dumb as a brick. Instead of trying to figure out if it's real or not (you know, by using Google) you merely attack it. You attack it because you disagree with it.

    It's not that you're dumb, you don't know how to collect information.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  69. Re:And the reality happened by quantaman · · Score: 1

    Here is an example of admitted voter fraud.
      https://www.realclearpolitics....!

    Your source is a video by a group notorious for videos that are dishonestly edited and where they goaded people into making incriminating sounding statements?

    Are you going to follow that up with a recommendation to invest with Bernie Madoff?

    The question comes down to this. Do you think democrats are all purely good people who never do wrong or are they like most human things, flawed in several ways?

    Of course they are.

    You seem very rational and methodical in your thinking. If you stop to analyze it some, you will catch that you probably have been showing some internal bias where you do not seek out wrong for one party, while assuming the other party is always wrong. Start asking yourself about the sources that you read and how trustable are they. Do you think a source made up of 90% or more from one party will give you a balanced view? If so, you do not believe in the fundamental idea of diversity and why it is important. Groups are very bad at being self analytical.

    Let me throw that back at you.

    How many people voted in the last election?

    How many fraudulent voters would it take to affect the election?

    How many people do you think fraudulently voted?

    How much would a news organization pay to someone who could give convincing proof of this, such as an illegal immigrant with a hidden iPhone filming themselves while a DNC operative helps them commit voter fraud?

    Where are all these people?

    The mass voter fraud theory collapses when subjected to minimal scrutiny.

    Lately, zealousness has infected the democrat party. Members are willing to forgive all sorts of wrong doing on their side, just to get the other side. Ask yourself, why does the democrat party oppose any attempt to ensure the voter rolls are honest? Ask yourself that deeply, if you can.

    Because there is absolutely zero evidence that wide-scale voter fraud exists, and voters who are inhibited by an "attempt to ensure the voter rolls are honest" are disproportionately Democratic.

    If the GOP was really concerned about voter fraud they'd fight mail-in ballots where there is a real (but hard to measure) fraud problem. But that screws Republican so they don't care.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  70. You have GOT to be fucking kidding! by martinfb · · Score: 1

    This is NOT the USA where I agreed to be a citizen!!!

    The ONLY purpose this serves is to corporations and covert billionaire/millionaire operations!
    There is NO need for this info to be freely public.

    And the fucking stupid politicians in office wonder why there are terrorist organizations, and revolutionary revolts!

    What makes this an okay thing, yet Trump is getting away with hiding his private info?!

    --


    Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.
  71. Re:The summary is... by martinfb · · Score: 1

    What ACTUALLY apparently happened is that COMMENT emails were published, NOT the info from individual voters.
    Further, the replies to said requests for State's voters' info were that only info that is already public would be submitted.
    Any SSN or month and day of birth are NOT to be released.
    Yet, your full name, birth year, and voter party and status (not who you voted-for) are included.

    Still further, most, if not all, states are awaiting a decision by a judge before releasing anything.

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    Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.
  72. Reality calling by Texmaize · · Score: 1

    Reality is calling. It says it misses you. Please come back to it.

    --
    "Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.